Friday, November 14, 2014

Gordon Parks a Renaissance Man

In 2005, the year before
his death, Gordon Parks published his ninth book of poetry, Eyes with
Winged Thoughts: Poems and Photographs. For the famed photographer
it joined his other literary works that included novels, autobiographies, and non-fiction works about
photography and film making. His best known book is the semi-autobiographical,
The Learning Tree which has been favorably compared to Harper Lee’s classic To
Kill a Mocking Bird.

Six years after its publication The Learning Tree was
released as Hollywood movie for which Park not only wrote the screenplay and
the musical score but also directed. This
saw him become first African American to direct a major studio film. Two years
later the release of the hit movie, Shaft confirmed Park’s talent
as a director.

Apart from his film scores Parks composed classical, blues, and popularmusic and in 1981 had an exhibition of abstract oil paintings.
But his lasting legacy will be his photography.

From his first camera purchased at a Seattle pawn shop in
1938, the self taught photographer went on to become one of Time/Life Magazine’s
celebrated staff photographers. His reputation as a humanitarian
photojournalist came from his racism, poverty and black urban life subject matter; an
artist with an eye for elegance came from his Paris fashion work and his
celebrity and political portraiture.

Forced to abandon his
formal education at 14, Parks went on to receive 40 honorary doctorates from colleges and universities in the
United States and England. One of which he dedicated to a former high
school teacher who had advised him and his fellow students not to waste their
parents' money on college because they would end up as porters or maids anyway.

No comments:

Translate

The expat

Henry Bateman is an artist and writer currently living in Australia, a return home after living in the Philippines for 10 years. The Ex Expat, is his blog about the arts (often) and politics (sometimes).
His writing has been published by Crikey.com (Australia), Artslant (US), The Expat Travel & Lifestyle Magazine & The Expat Newspaper (both in the Philippines) and The Western Review (Australia).
He has also had seven solo exhibitions and has had his work shown in 15 group exhibitions as well as 35 theater commissions as a set designer and/or lighting designer.